According to an anonymous tipster, Apple’s iPhone application SDK key that will allegedly be used to authenticate official iPhone apps has been leaked on an Austun Heap webpage. It is expected that the new iPhone applications will have to be authenticated by iTunes in order to be installed onto the device, giving Apple control of what apps are able to be installed on people’s iPhones.

Last night, an anonymous tipster pointed us to this Austin Heap webpage that purportedly reveals the iPhone’s secret Application SDK key. Another tipster, also anonymous, then tipped me to iPhone “Elite” developer Zibri’s blog, that shows the same key. So what does this mean? Since all iPhone applications must be properly signed for iTunes to process them and for the iPhone to load them, this key suggests that hackers are closer to creating compliant IPA application bundles for home-brew iTunes distribution. With the proper key, developers can create and distribute applications that load through iTunes without Apple’s blessing.